Chips Fire threatens Seneca area

PRATTVILLE — The massive Chips Fire made a run at the community of Seneca Thursday afternoon, but information about what happened was not available by deadline.

Thursday morning, U.S. Forest Service public information officer Alissa Tanner said the fire had not moved much, but firefighters were worried about an area on the south part of the fire, near the south end of Butt Valley Dam Reservoir.

There, a small fire started from burning debris that flew through the air from the main fire, she said. It had grown to about an acre Thursday morning.

Firefighters feared it could get out of control because it was in an extremely steep canyon that was impossible to get into, she said. Efforts were being made to create a fire break at the top of a ridge.

That one-acre fire flared up Thursday afternoon and was "making a run" toward the community of Seneca, Tanner said.

The fire was putting up so much smoke it was impossible to attack from the air, and there was nothing that could be done on the ground, she said.

Seneca had been evacuated earlier, she said, and firefighters sprayed buildings there with a non-flammable material to try to protect them.

When the fire started moving, crews working to contain it had to be pulled out of the area because of the danger, she said.

Shortly before 4 p.m. Thursday, she said there was so much smoke in the area that no one could tell exactly how far that fire had gone.

"We just know it's coming out of there," she said. "The fear is that Seneca is right in front of it."

There was also concern that a major electrical transmission line in the area might be affected by the fire.

At last report the fire had burned 42,964 acres. It was 20 percent contained.

The fire had traveled about 10 miles north from Belden on Highway 70 where it had started July 29, she said.

The cause of the fire was still unknown, she added.

For most of the week, firefighters had been working with bulldozers to create a "control line" from Yellow Creek campground to Humbug Road and from there to Butt Valley Dam Reservoir, she said.

The line was like a dirt road about two or three bulldozer blades wide, she said. The hope was that if the fire burned up to that line, it wouldn't shoot embers into the air and across it, starting new fires that could get out of control.

Thursday afternoon, she said that line had been finished and the fire hadn't crossed it.

Tanner was asked about the fire's effect on wildlife. She said that animals that could run fast, like deer, bear, rabbits and squirrels usually escaped the flames, but that there was less opportunity to escape for slower creatures such as tortoises and snakes.

She said 1,105 people, 120 engines, 29 dozers and 31 water tenders were fighting the Chips Fire. They included firefighters from all over. She said she was aware of firefighters having come to the fire from Arizona, Idaho, Wyoming and North Carolina.

They were employed by a number of agencies. Besides the Forest Service, these included organizations such as Cal Fire, the U.S. Park Service, the Bureau of Indian Affairs and the Bureau of Land Management.

Residents of the Lake Almanor area were being encouraged to register their cellphones with the Plumas County Sheriff's Office for warnings on the Chips Fire.

The Plumas County Emergency Notification System is like a reverse 9-1-1 system, which will send out emergency messages to residents.

On the Internet, residents seeking information could visit http://countyofplumas.com/index.aspx?nid=2163.

Landline home numbers were already in the system.

A voluntary evacuation notice distributed Monday by Plumas County Sheriff's Office remained in effect Thursday for Canyon Dam, Big Meadows, Rocky Point Campground, and a sheriff's advisory for planning for evacuation for Prattville, Almanor, West Almanor and east shore residents on Highway 147.